Here Come the Suns: Redux
by KitKatt0430
Summary: Part of the Redux series by Emcey Squared and myself. Jack/Nathan. When the second sun appears above Eureka, investigating it and the bunker under Tesla aren't the only problems Jack has. Nathan Stark has been acting strangely around Jack lately...
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

Summary – In an alternate universe where Allison turned down Nathan's proposal and there was no time loop, Election Day has come and a second sun has appeared over Eureka. Between trying to figure out the source of the mini sun and discovering Eva Thorne's secrets, Jack has his hands full. So he's not altogether prepared for a third problem; Nathan Stark has been acting a little strangely around the Sheriff lately…

Pairing - Jack/Nathan

A/N The first redux is EmceySquared's "Phased and Confused: Redux". She did a great job on that; it's adorable and I recomment that you go read it. The next redux is "From Fear to Eternity: Redux" and is in the process of being written by Emcey and betaed by me. We're switching off episodes and intend to continue when the series returns from it's midseason break.

_**Here Come the Suns: Redux**_

_**Chapter One**_

Zane's project was pretty impressive; Nathan had to give Thorne that as he, Allison, and their 'Chairman' watched a dummy coated in a heat resistant chemical not go up in flames despite the flamethrower being used on it. Of course, Nathan really would have preferred to have been the guy holding the flamethrower than the person listening to Allison try and play nice with Eva. It was pretty clear the two ladies were not meant to get along, but they were putting up a good front anyway.

"It's amazing what the brightest scientific minds and a big old corporate check can buy you," Allison said in agreement to something Thorne had observed. Eva had a tendency to sound like a commercial, so Nathan had a tendency to tune her out.

"Well it's too bad we can't buy the next mayoral election."

Nathan nearly laughed at the offended expression that sprang up on Allison's face. As it was, schooling his face to keep from showing his amusement was a near thing.

Thorne just smiled brightly and drawled, "just kidding Allison. I would, however, like the two of you to endorse Doctor Herrera."

"GD is to be kept apolitical during the election," Nathan cut in before Allison could say anything too derogatory about Herrera. Dr. Herrera had been hitting on Allie lately and was immune to her 'I'm not interested so get lost' glare. It was amusing, if a bit puzzling. He'd expected Jack Carter to have made some sort of move on Allison by now. "If either one of us," Nathan continued, putting his train of thought on the backburner, "were to publicly endorse Herrera then that would be construed as GD taking political interest where it shouldn't be. Besides, I don't have any particular reason to want him to win."

"Having someone to smooth ruffled feathers during the next round of cutbacks isn't a bad idea," Thorne posited.

"Well I prefer to make up my own mind," Allison responded, a hint of coldness seeping into her voice.

"You should also think about what's best for Global," Thorne wheedled.

Martha, the drone with a teenager-esque AI, flew over from one of the nearby bays and bumped its nose against Nathan's shoulder to say 'hi'. While Allison looked amused and Thorne eyed Martha worriedly, Nathan smiled and patted Martha on its top. After Martha's creation he'd been spending more time finding out about how the attack drones worked and he was a lot more impressed than he'd expected. Martha was his favorite, though, and she seemed to like him too. The doors to the drone bay started closing, though, so she darted away in order to get through to the other drones in time.

"We need a personal relationship with the town," Thorne continued, as soon as Martha was gone. "One that shows we're all on the same team."

"Are you and I on the same team here, Eva?" Allison finally asked the loaded question.

Nathan willed his phone to ring. He'd do anything to get away from these two. Thorne was irritating and secretive, yes, but confronting someone like that required evidence… and possibly a well-planned intervention group. Allison wasn't doing so well with the tactful information gathering and time-biding part and just jumping straight into the confrontational side of things.

"Of course," Eva managed to hit just the right note of 'surprised offence.' "I'd like to think we're all friends here, right Stark?"

Nathan's phone rang. It was almost enough to make him mentally promise to attend church that weekend. "Excuse me," he backed away a few steps and flipped his phone open. "Stark."

"Good. So why don't you tell me what's in the bunker under Tesla?"

Wincing at Allison's inevitable crash and burn and Thorne's expected semi-truth and calculated evasion, Nathan turned his attention fully to his phone.

"Hey, it's Carter." The Sheriff's voice was a welcome distraction. "Zane found some camera footage from the bunker under Tesla and Jo, Zane, and I just finished developing still frames at my house. There's something you should see… as soon as the debate night is over, because apparently I'm supposed to be there the entire time."

"Oh, so I'm not the only person looking for an excuse to skip out on that?" Nathan quipped. "I've had Fargo trying to bribe me to vote for Vincent all day and Thorne's been telling everyone that she's looking forward to seeing them at debate night, not to mention how she's been pushing Herrera."

"Fargo's been trying to bribe me, too." Carter laughed. "I've been telling him that bribery is a crime at least once every time I see him. Anyway, if you'll stop by my place after the debate, I can show you what we found."

"Sounds like a plan," Nathan agreed. "Thorne just pitched some half-truth to Allie about what's in the bunker, so I'll find out what she said and we can trade info."

"'Kay. I gotta go; I need to think up some sort of opening remarks…" Carter hung up while grumbling about Jo and how she 'forgot' to tell him things on purpose.

Smiling fondly, Nathan shut his cell phone and slid it into his pocket. Sometimes Jack didn't seem to realize that he'd become part of the community so seamlessly that people tended to forget that he hadn't even been there for two years yet. Shaking his head a little, Nathan forced himself to get the silly grin off his face. If anyone found out about he felt for Jack Carter before he managed to work up the courage to tell the Sheriff himself… well, bad things would happen.

Very bad things.

Now, to find out just what Thorne had said to Allison to but that angry scowl on her otherwise lovely face.

--

"Hello? Hello… is this on?" Jack smiled a bit nervously as he tested the microphones. He hated politics on a good day – he usually only paid attention once every four years in order to vote for the president – and absolutely loathed them on a bad day. Since he was being required to do public speaking, this definitely qualified as a bad day. "Hi everyone and welcome to Debate Night." There was a brief pause for some polite applauding and Jack took a moment to search for Stark. His eyes found the scientist lurking on the opposite side of Café Diem, standing in the corner furthest from the stage, glaring at Larry who was trying to get Stark to wear a 'support Herrera' hat. Clearly Larry didn't understand that while Stark might have saved him from Thorne's attempt to fire him, it had nothing to do with liking Larry and everything to do with pissing off Thorne.

"I'm Sheriff Carter," Jack continued, wrenching his thoughts away from Stark's predicament, despite how amusing it was. "And I'll be your…"

"Ugh, cut to the chase! We want issues, not filler!" Lexi exclaimed, leaning forward in her seat and clenching her fists in excitement. Her obsession with politics had rubbed off on Zoe, who was sponsoring Lucas in the election. Well, more like controlling Lucas and forcing him to run for office, but that was all semantics.

"Thank you Lexi, for your wildly inappropriate enthusiasm. So, without further ado, I give you your candidates." Jack briefly gestured at them and then went to hide with Stark in the back. As Vincent began to speak, he shooed off Larry and forced the suck-up to shut-up. While quieting Larry had been for his own peace of mind, the briefly grateful expression that flitted across Nathan's face was worth it, too.

Smirking, Stark took a drink of his vinspresso while Jack watched enviously. It had been a long day and there was no end in sight. There was nothing he wanted more than coffee. Almost nothing, anyway.

"Here, have this." Stark held out a second vinspresso from somewhere behind him where Jack hadn't noticed it.

Snagging the cup, Jack cradled the coffee close for a few seconds. "Oh, god, yes. Thank you, Nathan." Glancing up before taking a drink, he noticed that Nathan looked a bit flushed, but he shrugged the thought off. It was a little warm that evening, but thankfully the sun had gone down so it ought to cool off soon.

After Vincent and Lucas made their speeches and received their cheers, it was finally Herrera's turn. The phenologist had pulled a neat stunt with some clouds earlier that day and was clearly a smooth-talking, crowd pleaser. Allison had mentioned that Herrera had been hitting on her lately and had hinted at who'd she'd rather be flirting with. And maybe, if Nathan had left for one of those job offers he'd gotten after losing his position as Director of Operations at GD, things might have been different. Up until that night when Global had lockdown over Henry's fake contagion, Jack had thought that Allison was the one he'd wanted. But then they'd all thought that Stark had been infected by the mutated, flesh eating virus and Jack felt way more twisted up inside by that than by the idea of Allison being at Beverly Barlowe's mercy.

That was when he'd finally clued into how he felt for Nathan Stark.

So when Allison turned down Nathan's proposal a few months ago, Jack felt a little guilty for feeling so glad that she'd said 'no'. Because that meant once Nathan got over the rejection and started acting more like himself again, Jack would have his chance to find out if Stark could ever return his feelings.

"…and I will help usher in a day for Eureka!" Herrera pumped his fist into the air for emphasis.

Then the second sun rose outside.

Wait a minute…

Jack shielded his eyes for a moment and then rushed out the front doors of Café Diem, Nathan mere steps behind him and followed by everyone else from the café. Jo and Allison rushed over to stand beside them and they all squinted up at the sun in the sky.

Jack couldn't help it; he just had to say it. "It's a new day, all right."

A/N There's chapter one; I'll be posting one each evening unless something comes up. That's not likely, but you've been warned of possibility.

Also, Emcey is waiting for this to be online before completing her story and posting it. We're both college students taking some pretty tough courses (Physics, for example) and are thus tag-teaming this series to make the story writing easier on us both. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

A/N - Here's chappie number two, right on schedule. Also, I made Jack get the Star Wars reference because I thought it was silly of the writers to make him not know what Tatooine was. It isn't just scientists and hard-core sci-fi geeks that know Star Wars, after all.

_**Chapter Two**_

"Just another _days_ in Eureka," Jo punned as she and Jack stared up at the two suns.

One of GD jeeps pulled up before Jack could give Jo the response her bad joke deserved. Allison got out of the front side passenger seat, Zane hopped out of the back, and Stark finished parking, giving his two passengers an irritated glare as they abandoned him before he even turned off the car.

"Well?" Jack yelled.

"It's a mini-sun," Zane responded.

"Really?" Jack was unimpressed and it showed in his tone. "It took you brainiacs all night to come up with that?"

"No." Nathan slammed the driver's door with a little more force than necessary. "It took us all night to figure out that it wasn't a GD project. Unfortunately, there's no one on my staff for me to yell at."

"Vinspresso?" Jack held out the cup of caffeinated divinity as a peace offering.

"My day just got better," Nathan muttered, taking the coffee and gulping down about a third off it. Fargo had stopped making coffee runs around four am… when he'd fallen asleep and no one had wanted to wake him. A caffeine-high Fargo was a frightening thing, after all. They would have shanghaied Larry into taking over the coffee runs… except the little weasel had somehow snuck out around 2 am to go home and sleep.

Sometimes Nathan had to close his eyes and visualize the way Thorne twitched every time she came near Larry or the way Larry would squeak like a mouse and hide every time he noticed Thorne in order to make keeping the sorry excuse for a scientist around worthwhile.

"Better now?"

"I haven't had coffee since four this morning. So not yet." Nathan took a much smaller, slower drink of the vinspresso.

Zane and Jo exchanged knowing looks while Allison's expression grew confused.

"So… now we have two suns?" Jo asked rhetorically.

Zane grinned impishly. "Just like Tatooine."

Jack glanced over at the young scientist and rolled his eyes. "This isn't Star Wars, Zane," he pointed out.

"Yeah, well, maybe I can figure out how to make a lightsabre and it'll be closer," Zane grumbled. "I bet Jo would make an awesome Jedi Knight."

Jo grinned at her boyfriend and mimed a few sword fighting moves.

Nathan took his turn at rolling his eyes and attempted to move the conversation back on track. "The good news is that it's stable and holding a position of a thousand feet above Eureka."

"Fortunately the rest of the world can't see this spotlight over Eureka," Allison added.

"Well, agreed, but its nine am and ninety degrees. How do we turn it off?" Jack's voice took on a slightly whiny edge, but he was doing pretty good job of reigning in his irritation. He could see that Nathan was on edge from lack of sleep as it was and didn't want to set off the scientist's temper.

"We're not sure yet," Nathan responded, turning to stare up at the two suns. "It's some sort of fusion reaction."

"That… sounds dangerous." Jack sounded worried for the town now.

"No, not necessarily," Zane attempted to explain, "based on its containment, I'd say that it's deliberate."

"Who would want to make a second sun on purpose?" was Jo's incredulous retort.

Jack tapped Jo's shoulder lightly even as he stared up into the bright light. "Maybe the guy who was trying to make a big bang at the debates?"

"Herrera," Allison growled.

Nathan took a few sidesteps away from Allie. Obviously Herrera had asked her, in his typically smarmy way, to dinner again. Herrera wasn't that bad a guy… when he wasn't assuming that he was god's gift to women. "Eva wanted us to endorse him," Nathan reminded Jack. Allison bristled and Zane followed Nathan's example of moving subtly away from her.

"Such a hidden agenda," Carter muttered in annoyance.

Allison grew intrigued. "What do you mean?"

"Does this have to do with the security camera photos you were telling me about?" Nathan added.

"Yeah." Jack nodded and then explained for Allie's benefit. "Zane found some security footage of Thorne sneaking around the facility. What's down there, anyway?"

"Well, nothing for long. She ordered a thermal cleaning." Allison did a fairly good job of hiding her anger at that particular decision this time.

"Can we stop it?" Jack had that expression on his face, the one that said he wasn't letting go of the mystery without a fight. "Can we get inside?"

"No. She's forbidden access; the whole place is classified." Allie's voice rose a little in pitch, betraying how pissed off she felt about the situation.

"Well, something is going on."

"You talk to Herrera and see if the double sun issue can get cleared up," Nathan directed, speaking slowly as he came up with a plan while speaking it aloud. "We'll look into bunker."

Jack nodded in agreement and took off with Jo. Allie's phone started to ring as they turned back towards the car.

"Yes, Allison Blake… She asked for me?" Allie's tone grew surprised. "Oh…oh, okay. I'm on my way."

"What happened?" Zane asked, unable to help being nosy. Nathan considered telling the younger scientist to mind his own business, but stayed quiet in the end. He was curious too.

"Lexi Carter collapsed from the heat. She's asked for me to be her physician." Allie shrugged, "I'll find out more when we get there."

"Should we tell Carter?" Nathan asked, looking over his shoulder in the direction the Sheriff had disappeared in.

"She should be fine," Allison assured him. "If there's something wrong when I see her, then _I'll_ call Jack."

It was all Nathan could do to keep from clenching his jaw shut. After his friendly rivalry with Jack over Allison, it had never even occurred to him that Allie would become his rival for Jack's affection.

Nathan hated irony.

--

Herrera had been a bust. Standing around in the thunderstorm's cold rain had been a relief from the dry heat outside, but the moisture hadn't lasted long when he and Jo left. The phenologist had no idea who made the second sun and, though he thought it was cool, didn't see much of a use for something that could only serve to irritate the voting public. He was a cloud guy and putting his face in the sky was the furthest he'd go.

The scientist didn't even have a background in the necessary fields for creating a sun, so he wasn't lying about it either. The temperature was rising into the 100s and Jack's temper was struggling not to rise with the temperature.

Jack walked, alone, into Nathan's office. He'd sent Jo to fetch Zane, a job she embraced without her usual 'I'm not your lackey' complaint. Her compliance in the matter made the idea of working with Zane more often sound a little appealing; Zane's presence kept Jo from acting as homicidal as usual when he gave her orders.

At first, Jack didn't see Nathan, but then he reached the desk and realized that Stark had fallen asleep in his chair, which was facing the windows. Stark looked peaceful, though he might wake up with a crick in his neck if he stayed that way too long, and Jack was reluctant to wake him. Nathan hadn't slept the night before and did need his rest… but finding out more about the new sun was important.

The air conditioning, which had been roaring at full power, suddenly cut out and the silence was deafening. Nathan jerked awake at the loss of the sound and stretched, yawning a little.

"Afternoon, Nathan," Jack drawled.

The chair swiveled and Stark blinked owlishly at Jack for a moment in surprise. "When did you get here?"

"I just got here from Herrera's cloud farm. He's not the person who made the second sun, just a stereotypical politician." Jack gestured towards the air vents, "oh, and you just lost the air conditioning."

Nathan nodded, still a little sluggish from waking up. "I'd finally gotten used to the droning sound, too. Zane sent me his analysis of the second sun; it's a mini-main sequence star, just like the real sun, but its energy source has yet to be determined. Allie's been checking through records. I was supposed to help her after finishing up some paper work, but…" Stark trailed off guiltily.

"She'll forgive you," Jack smiled.

The doors to the office opened and Allison breezed inside. "So, you finally woke up?" She grinned at the sight of Nathan looking a bit sheepish. "Don't worry about it; you needed your sleep."

"Told you." Jack was just barely loud enough for Stark to hear.

"Most of the records on the bunker are gone, either they didn't exist or Eva redacted them. She forgot accounting, though." Walking up to Nathan's desk, she moved to stand beside Jack behind the desk so that she could see the computer screen, too. "Take a look at this." She handed over a USB drive to Nathan, who immediately plugged it into his computer.

"Oh, somebody messed up their lunch receipt," Jack joked as the first picture appeared on the screen.

"Somehow, I don't think anyone is going to want to be eating what this is an order form for, Carter. Unless you like deuterium and radioactive isotopes, that is," Nathan tapped a button and the next picture scrolled onto the screen. "Right here is the makings of a few small fusion bombs… or perhaps a scaled replica of our solar system's main sequence star."

"So Thorne's dug up an old bomb testing facility?" Jack questioned for clarity's sake. "Stark, we have got to get into that room before Thorne does her whole thermal cleaning thing."

"And do what?" Nathan asked, still leafing through the photos of the old DOD accounting forms.

"We need to find out if what's down there is causing what's up here." Jack put on his best stubborn expression and hoped that Nathan was as curious as he was. Except then his cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, grateful that Nathan had kept his promise about getting rid of the cyber kinetic comlink. "Carter."

"Dad? Um… I think I've found the source of that second sun," Zoe replied, her voice sounding a little shaky. It wasn't a scared sort of shaky, but sort of a 'this is gonna be trouble' shaky.

"What do you mean, Zoe?"

"Well… you just have to see this for yourself, Dad. And, uh, you should definitely bring Henry and Dr. Stark to see this." Zoe rattled off an address and then promised to show him when he got there.

Jack hung up the phone, but didn't put it away. "Zoe says that she thinks she's found the source of the new sun, but that it has to be seen to be believed."

"I'll go find Zane and Jo," Allison offered, her mind still stuck on the idea of finding out what Thorne had to hide. "We'll get everything ready for checking out the bunker." She didn't wait for the two men to agree before breezing out of the office.

"She's really gung-ho about this," Jack remarked in surprise.

"Thorne told her that there's baryogenic radiation in the bunker. Allie thinks Eva is lying," Nathan explained. "It's too easy to check for radiation down there, though, even for radiation as rare as baryogenic. I didn't think Thorne was lying about that, so I checked with Henry, who confirmed the existence of the baryogenic radiation. A thermal cleaning is a good way to get rid of that sort of dangerous radiation, but before now it's only been theoretical. The effects of baryogenic compounds are completely unknown; it hasn't hurt anyone yet, but after three teens, you, and Zane went running around down there, it'll be better if the irradiated compounds aren't destroyed just yet."

"We're all at risk then, if we go back in there," Jack looked alarmed.

Shaking his head negatively, Nathan explained, "from what we can tell, baryogenic radiation is only harmful if someone comes in contact with what's emitting it. The low levels released by the substance or object will, at worst, lower a person's immune system for a few days so long as you don't touch it. We should be fine." Stark waited for Jack to give a reluctant, nonverbal agreement and then asked, "so, about that second sun?"

A/N So... I've been watching Avatar: The Last Airbender lately... and Azula is scary. I realize this has nothing to do with Eureka... but it's still true.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

A/N - I find the idea of Stark being surrounded by the revolving planets to be symbolic of his ego. And how cute he is when he and Jack snark over that ego.

_**Chapter Three**_

Nathan was standing at the center of the revolving planets and was staring up through the hole in the ceiling. The second sun could be clearly seen directly above the playhouse, glowing brightly. "I don't suppose GD could have a copy of your lab data for both the sun and its containment field," he asked the young girl, Zoe's project partner. He couldn't remember her name and wasn't entirely sure anyone had mentioned it yet.

She grinned eagerly, looking excited for the first time since Nathan had shown up with Jack and Henry. Up till then she'd had a sort of scared and guilty expression. "Really? GD would want this?"

"This," he gestured to the planets and then up towards the sun, "is brilliant." The girl practically bounced with happiness.

"Now there are literal planets revolving around him," Jack was saying to Henry, just loud enough for Nathan to hear, "we're never going to get his ego back down to size after this." Henry laughed.

"What can I say, Carter? It's my natural charisma; both objects and people just seem to gravitate to me," Nathan teased.

"So… does this mean we're still getting an A?" Zoe asked, interrupting the banter.

"Yeah… not so much," Jack shook his head. "You can't exactly bring this to school and turn it in, can you?"

"At this size," the girl waved her hand at the hole in the roof in order to draw attention to the sun, "I don't think it can just be carried in. We'll need to make something else to turn in. Sorry, Zoe."

"Building a controlled fusion reaction like this takes real talent," Henry spoke up, moving to stand beside Nathan.

"Well, it wasn't even that hard," the girl demurred, flushing at the praise from the two scientists. "Take a graviton field generator, surround it with a little reactor plasma, heat, and serve." Henry smiled at her briefly and the stared up at the second sun.

"Sort of, kinda a big helping, don't you think?" Jack asked, still watching Nathan. Seeing Stark surrounded by the model planets was actually rather cute… even more so because of the way the scientist was grinning back at him. Surely he was just imagining the look in the scientist's eyes. It was only a few months ago that he'd wanted to remarry Allison, after all.

Nathan couldn't possibly have gotten over that painful dismissal and fallen for Jack all in the span of almost three months… right?

Though… Nathan had been visibly upset when Jack had convinced him that using the phasing vest was the only way to save Zoe before she suffocated along with Zane, Pilar, and Lucas. And when Jack kept getting zapped by the cyber kinetic comlink, Nathan had held Jack's hand and rubbed feeling back in it. Then there had been the thing with the mummy and Fargo nearly dying; Nathan had insisted on being there with Jack while catching all the plague bugs in Vincent's freezer.

So maybe there was a possibility that Nathan…

Jack forced himself to concentrate on the sun issue. Any thoughts concerning Nathan and relationships would have to come later. Fortunately, all he'd missed was Zoe and her partner bickering over responsibilities and the politics of backing Lucas in the election.

"Henry, Stark," Jack interrupted the fighting of the two girls, "I've got a town full of cranky people who need some sleep. Do you two have any ideas on how to turn it off?"

"Yeah, can you make it do what it's supposed to do?" The little girl stopped glaring at Zoe and went to crouch beside where Henry was kneeling. "It should have dissipated hours ago."

"Well, it's getting some fuel from somewhere," Nathan observed. "It should still burn itself out; it's just going to take longer then you originally calculated. Until then, it looks like Eureka's in for some bright, sunny skies."

"In the meantime," Henry added, "I'll head back to my garage and calculate just how fast this is gonna burn out."

"Thanks. Let us know what you find." Jack yawned and covered his face with a hand. "I guess I'll just have to tell everyone to crank up the AC and put heavy drapes over the windows to block out the light."

"Can I go with you, Dr. Deacon," the little girl chirped. "I'd like to help."

"Oh, I think you've helped enough already today, don't you?" Zoe snapped.

Henry gave Zoe an irritated look and then told the girl, Kylie – Henry knew her name – she could oversee the readings and walked out with her.

Ducking out from the center of the planets, Nathan slid his hands into his front pockets and bounced a little. "So, now is it time to check out the bunker under Tesla and irritate 'The Fixer'?"

"You're enjoying this way too much," Jack teased.

"I used to walk through the halls in GD and watch as the other scientists ran away in fear. Now they run from Thorne and look relieved when it's just me," Stark pouted. "I miss my power trips."

"You're still upset about that?"

"It's just not fair."

"You're such a child…"

Zoe stared at the Sheriff and Scientist for a long moment and then shook her head in irritation. "You two are weird… and blind. I'm gonna go to Café Diem and keep campaigning for Lucas…" she wandered through the door and mumbled, barely loud enough to be heard, "and maybe up my bet on you two with Vincent…"

--

"Someone should stay behind and ward off Thorne," Nathan said, staring pointedly at Allison.

"By someone, you mean me." Allie didn't sound happy as she glanced at Jack and then the entrance to the bunker.

Nathan shrugged. "Thorne likes you best. You're more likely to keep her from noticing the rest of us are missing."

"He's right, Allison," Jack agreed. "We'll be able to investigate better if we have more time. You have the best chance of distracting Thorne. If Stark tries to keep her busy, it'll be suspicious because he's always avoiding her. Zane would be too obvious because… well…"

"Because it's me," Zane shrugged. "I accept that stealthy is not my strong suit."

Jack nodded and continued. "And I have no excuse to be at GD right now; there's nothing that can be done about the second sun since it's supposed to burn itself out."

"Fine, I'll stall Thorne if necessary." Allison left the Tesla basement in a huff.

"Is Dr. Blake… pouting?" Zane asked as soon as the door shut behind her.

Nodding, Nathan said, "she has this thing about being left out. So long as it only happens to other people, she's okay. The second she's the one not getting her way… the pouting begins. Once the pouting ends and the shouting starts, though…" he winced faintly.

"I bet you're glad you didn't remarry her now," Zane offered.

Glancing briefly at Jack and then walking over to the bunker door, Nathan responded, "one of many reasons I'm actually glad she turned me down." Typing in a pass code, the bunker opened and Nathan strode inside. Zane and Jack followed close behind him, the latter immediately opening up his laptop and scanning for anything related to the sun.

"The radiogenic detection field reads negative for fusion-related products," Zane announced after a few moments.

Jack didn't look particularly relieved by that statement. "Is that good or bad?"

"It means we aren't being irradiated," Nathan muttered. "So that would be a definite 'good'."

"Rats."

"I just said…"

"No, I literally mean rats." Jack pointed as the small swarm of rodents started squeaking at them. He jumped as one of them scurried over his foot and then stumbled, latching onto Stark's arm to keep from falling over. "I hate rats…"

Zane laughed and Nathan smirked. "You alright there, Sheriff?"

"I'm fine," Jack ground out, looking faintly embarrassed but still a little freaked out by the rodents. Glaring over at the snickering young scientist, Jack snapped, "got something you want to say?"

"Uh, no?" Zane immediately quit laughing and attempted to wipe the mirth from his face.

"Let's just keep going, shall we?" Nathan grinned at Jack. "The rats are gone now," he added quietly.

Face obviously blushing, Jack reluctantly released Stark's arm and backed up a step. "Right…"

Zane shook his head. "Uh, you two do realize I'm still here, yeah?"

"That second sun was getting fuel from somewhere," Jack responded, getting back on track. "Is it from down here?"

"Well, if it is, I'm not finding it." Zane stared intently at his computer screen for a few more seconds and then shook his head dejectedly. "No sun fuel here."

"I can't believe the DOD has been hiding this beneath the High School all these years," Nathan mused. "I wonder what happened here that Thorne wants to keep covered up so badly."

"Hey!" Zane walked up to a door with the number 307 on it. "Here's the door we saw on the security photos."

"Alright," Jack drawled and began to look excited. Unexpectedly, Nathan felt reminded of the night he'd gone with Jack and Taggart into Global to stop Beverly Barlowe from kidnapping Kevin; Jack seemed to thrive on mysteries and adventures and there was a light in his eyes… "Let's see what's inside."

Nathan closed his eyes briefly to clear his mind. In the middle of this bunker was neither the time nor the place to be getting lost in Jack Carter's blue eyes.

"My specialty," Zane was saying. There was a smirk on his face that reminded Jack of when the delinquent genius had first arrived and used a remote control to order things on the office computers. It was amusing to see Zane applying the criminal side of himself to something less likely to run up bills on Jack's credit cards.

Jack opened his mouth to ask how long it would take to open the door, but Nathan lightly placed a hand on the Sheriff's shoulder. "Give him a second." Stark spoke softly in Jack's ear, his breath whispering across Jack's neck. It was all Carter could do to keep from shivering despite the heat. The door popped open a crack and Zane shoved it further so that they could see inside.

Shining his flashlight inside the dark room, Jack took the lead and tried not to freak out again at the sight of rats scrambling across the cobwebbed surfaces of the far shelves. Nathan's voice whispered in his ear, "now I'm really getting curious as to where this problem with rodents is coming from. I'll have to get you to tell me later."

Swallowing convulsively, Jack took a shuddering breath and released it more calmly. Nathan was driving him crazy, but he'd be okay…

"Okay," Jack said, a bit louder than necessary in nearly empty, echoing room, "this is a bit of a letdown."

"I don't understand," Nathan agreed, "why would Thorne order a thermonuclear cleaning of an empty lab?"

"Maybe it wasn't always empty." Turning to Zane, Jack asked, "can I see that light, scanner, thingy?"

Sounding both irritated and amused, Zane corrected "bio-telemetric dispersion scanner" even as he dug it out of his backpack.

Nathan grinned and shook his head; at least this time Jack wasn't getting the name wrong on purpose. After knowing Jack for nearly a year and a half, Nathan had learnt how to tell when the Sheriff was baiting him and his scientists by deliberately playing dumb and when he genuinely hadn't had the time to memorize something's name.

"So, how does this work again," Jack asked.

Cutting in before Zane could show off, Nathan explained what it did to Jack. The younger man may have remembered to bring it with them, but Nathan had been the one who'd developed it with Henry. "It reads patterns of movement left behind by organic materials. It's very useful for collecting forensic data."

"So let's see who's been here." Jack crouched down to get a better reading of the floor. Zane pointed out the older set of prints covered in a deep layer of dust, causing Nathan and Jack to exchange 'well duh' looks.

"The high heels and military boots are newer," Nathan observed.

"They were moving stuff out," Jack added, shining the device over towards one of the far walls. Then something very different from footprints were being illuminated by the bio-telemetric dispersion scanner.

"Oh my god," Nathan breathed. "There were people still in here when the lab was originally sealed."

"Carter, hand me the scanner." Zane took the device from Jack and waved it around some more, getting a bigger, wider picture of where the bodies had lain. "These bodies were moved in the last twenty-four hours."

"We have to find out who they were and what they were doing here when the lab was sealed," Nathan said insistently. Whoever they were, he felt this tie to them. They were likely scientists who died in the name of research. Something like that shouldn't be covered up; the scientists of the past deserved to be remembered for their accomplishments and respected for the changes they brought to the world… not buried and forgotten in some bunker under a high school.

"And find out why Thorne wants to keep them hidden so badly," Jack agreed.

Then there was a clanking noise from behind them. The three men stood and turned around as Thorne walked in with three security guards.

A/N - The "Nathan and the power trips" joke is going to be a running gag throughout the redux series. :) It was Emcey's idea; she's got brilliant ideas sometimes...

In Avatar: The Last Airbender, I absolutely adore Zuko. He's my favorite character, followed closely by his scary, psycho sister: Azula.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

A/N - I didn't much like Eva until I saw "From Fear to Eternity". When I saw what her motivations were, I found that I understood and liked her character a lot better. She has a good heart, but just doesn't know how to trust others. I wish she would have told Jack, Henry, and Allison what was going on so that she could stick around for the rest of the season. I'm gonna miss her now...

_**Chapter Four**_

"This facility is classified," Thorne snapped; her eyes angry. "It's scheduled for thermal cleaning. Yet here you are violating direct orders. I'd expect this kind of insubordination from you, Sheriff."

Jack gave a small mock-bow. "Thank you," he demurred. Eva's eyes sparked with amusement for a moment before growing angry again.

"But you two…" Thorne glared at Zane and Nathan.

"I've always had a bit of trouble with authority." Zane shrugged.

"I like mysteries," Nathan added. "It's one of the reasons I became a scientist."

"As far as I'm concerned, this just became an active crime scene." Jack jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the area where the bodies had once lain.

"Oh, this is out of your jurisdiction, Sheriff." Eva no longer appeared amused with Carter's antics. "I'd be happy to have the DOD remind you of that."

"And I'd be happy to tell them why."

"Are you trying to bluff me?" Eva looked surprised but not likely to back down. Without more evidence, the DOD would side with her. A few scans showing skeletons that might have been moved in less than a day weren't enough to get the Department of Defense to get mad at their Fixer.

"No he's not," Nathan interrupted. He'd seen Zane hide the memory chip from the scanner, so now it was just a matter of getting Jack out before he got sacked. "Because he's leaving; we all are."

"No!" There was a hint of betrayal in Jack's blue eyes when he looked at Nathan and Stark cringed internally. "Actually, we're not."

"Carter, we crossed the line," Nathan stared right into the Sheriff's eyes, mentally pleading for the other man to _listen_. "Let's not make this worse, okay?"

"Are you sure about this?" Nathan nodded. Jack sighed and raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. Okay."

Once they were escorted out and the guards left them alone at Jack's car, Zane exploded. "I can't believe you just caved like that!"

"First, we don't have enough evidence yet, even with the data chip from the scanner you put in your pocket. Second, if Thorne wanted to, she could have fired you and me on the spot and then contacted the DOD to get rid of Carter. She doesn't want it to come to that, for whatever reason." Nathan paused and then held out a hand. "Carter and I will take the chip over to Henry's garage. He's the forensics expert; he'll be able to analyze the data better. You should head back to GD and tell Allison what happened."

Zane winced as he handed over the scanner's memory. "I'll just walk home and grab my bike, then…" he hurried away.

"You didn't have to scare him like that," Jack teased.

"He's more likely afraid of Allison's reaction on hearing about the adventure she's missed out on," Nathan responded dismissively. "So what's the deal with the rats?" he asked, getting into the passenger seat of Jack's truck.

Carter got into the car without saying anything and shuddered. "A few months before I came to Eureka, I was protecting a Federal witness. There were three of us – Marshalls – for this one guy. He was some mob sleaze who finally grew a conscience.

"We were hit with knockout gas and when we came to, our witness was missing. About a week later we found him in a clear, plastic box inside an abandoned warehouse; his corpse was being eaten by rats. The coroner was pretty certain the rats were the cause of death; that the guy was cut up badly, probably knocked unconscious, and then dumped in the box along with the starving rodents."

"I'm sorry." Nathan once again placed a comforting hand on Jack's shoulder. "I shouldn't have asked."

"It's okay," Jack smiled at him. "I don't mind telling you."

As Jack put the truck in gear, Nathan smiled and relaxed into the seat. Despite how tired he was and how hot it was, perhaps the day was going to be a good one after all.

And then the sun flared and everything started getting worse.

--

It was 110 degrees outside and climbing. Nathan sat directly in front of one of the fans in Henry's garage, only partially paying attention to the conversation Henry and Jack were having about the bodies. He'd long since ditched his suit jacket and tie and opened the top few buttons on his shirt. The heat was making him feel sluggish and disoriented from the bad memories it was dredging up.

"How is that even possible?" Jack asked Henry. Apparently the dead scientists had been sealed in the lab in 1939 around the ages of forty and died the same year with the physical ages of eighty-year-olds.

"An unforeseen side effect of an experiment… accidental genetic mutation…" Nathan finally spoke up. "Whatever it was, somehow those three men were rapidly aged to the point where they were too old for their bodies to continue functioning."

"Dr. Deacon?" Kylie raced into the lab. "There's something I think you're really going to want to see."

"Please tell me you didn't make another sun." Jack was mostly teasing.

Once the heat had started rocketing up, Nathan had begun to feel his lack of sleep creeping back up on him. It was midnight and, once again, he was awake instead of asleep, or at least heading home to sleep. Henry didn't keep a coffee machine in his garage so he couldn't get a caffeine fix either. So it was taking all his energy at the moment to stay sitting up straight in the chair by the fan and listen, half-heartedly, to Kylie explain about the hydrogen. Jack's immediately cottoned on to the fact that the hydrogen probably came from Herrera's cloud drawings and the way he lit up with understanding made Nathan's pulse race a little.

Of course, it also made him feel a little dizzier.

"Hey, Nathan, are you okay?"

Giving a little shake of his head, Nathan focused in on Jack. "Where did Henry and Kylie go?"

Carter walked over to stand in front of Stark. "They've just left to go talk to Herrera about how he makes the clouds. Are you okay?" he repeated his question again, worry evident in his voice and face.

"The last time I felt this overheated I was ten minutes away from spontaneously combusting," Nathan responded. "So no, not so much…"

"Come on." Jack grabbed Nathan's arms and pulled him to his feet and then released Nathan's right arm in order to lead him out of the garage. "You can stay over at my place. SARAH is the least likely to lose the AC in the middle of the night and you need sleep."

"I'll be fine…" Nathan trailed off in surprise upon seeing the determined expression on Jack's face. "Are you really that worried about me?"

"You didn't notice Henry and Kylie leave and you look like you'd collapse if I let your arm go." Jack nodded, "so yeah, I'm that worried. Get in the truck, Nathan, and try to get some rest. It's not far from here to the bunker, so don't actually fall asleep, okay?"

--

There was a spare bed folded up in the couch that SARAH could open and close on cue, which was a good thing since the guest room had officially become Lexi's room.

The air in the bunker was cooler and Nathan seemed to perk up after leaving the heat and having water to drink, so he helped Jack clear the space in front of the couch and put all the cushions on the side of the room so that SARAH could create an impromptu guest space. After putting some sheets on the pull-out bed, sticking a light blanket on, and tracking down a few spare pillows, Nathan was ready to sleep. No sooner did the genius get under the covers and close his eyes, he was fast asleep and breathing softly.

Jack smiled and absently ran his fingers through Stark's hair. Nathan was no longer abnormally pale the way he'd been at Henry's garage. The cooler temperature had clearly helped ease the bad memories that had appeared to be slowly edging him towards a panic attack. Seeing how calm Nathan was now helped Jack relax as well.

However worried he might have seemed to Nathan at the garage, he'd been nothing short of fearful. Jack had been afraid that his scientist was about to collapse. That he'd gotten Nathan home safely alleviated the tight, anxious feeling in his chest.

Reluctantly, Jack stood and started towards the stairs, only to stop in surprise at seeing Zoe standing at the top. "Hey, Zoe."

"Is that Dr. Stark on our couch?" She asked softly, beckoning for him to join her on the landing above.

"Yeah," Jack nodded and hurried up the stairs. "He wasn't doing too well out in the heat and I figured this would be the best place for him."

"Didn't he almost spontaneously combust once?" Zoe waited for confirmation and then shuddered. "I wouldn't be doing too well with all this heat either, if I were him." She paused and then hugged Jack. "Dad, I really want you to be happy, you know? And even though Dr. Stark can be a major jerk, he makes you happy… 'cause he isn't just a jerk. He can also be really nice and helpful and even selfless." Zoe released Jack from her hug. "So stop waiting to tell him how you feel. Don't worry about me; I think he'll be good for you and I certainly approve. Don't worry about Lexi; she's about as liberal as a person can be and not look like a hippie. Don't worry about him rejecting you, either, because he won't."

"Zo…" Jack sighed and smiled and then pulled his daughter into another hug. "Thank you, Zoe."

"Sometimes I can be pretty wise, huh?"

"For a kid," Jack teased.

"Does this mean you'll ease up on Lucas?"

"Nope." Jack grinned impishly at Zoe's affronted expression. "Now, go get some sleep. I'm going to stick a note in Lexi's room so she'll know about our guest before she sees him."

"Good night, Dad." Zoe started walking away to her room.

"'Night, Zo."

A/N - Zoe is a pretty cool kid now that she's learned to stop running away from her problems. Of course, now she has this tendency to get obsessive over things, like politics, which can be irritating, but she's still pretty wise at times.

Avatar: The Last Airbender - Sokka is actually kind of funny sometimes. His jokes are mostly bad, but yet... he's still amusing somehow.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

A/N – There's only one more chapter left. I guess I'm just going to have to go work on Emcey and my series rewrite story in order to get to write more Jack/Nathan scenes. They're just so cute together...

Warning: I do like Allison most of the time, but her character is not all sweetness and light. That is shown in this chapter. She'll make up for it , but all the heat is making her temper run high. If you don't like mean Allie… skip the second section of the chapter.

_**Chapter Five**_

Nathan woke up to the smell of coffee and an announcement that it was eleven am. The announcer was, after a few moments, identified as SARAH's feminized Fargo voice. Reluctantly opening his eyes, Nathan spotted Jack Carter standing in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee with a second one on the table.

Upon seeing that Nathan was awake, Jack walked over with the second cup of coffee and handed it to the scientist. "Good morning."

"Morning…" Nathan sat up, took the cup, and drank from it. Already he felt much better than he had the day before. "Thanks for…" he shrugged and waved his hand to signify everything that Jack had done for him.

"Not a problem. I probably should have had SARAH wake you earlier, but I just didn't have the heart to get you up before now." Jack shrugged. "Allison and Zane are covering for you and Jo isn't strangling me for hiding in the air conditioning because she's with Zane right now."

"He does seem to have a calming influence on her," Nathan agreed slowly. "Which is odd because he's… not calm."

Jack laughed and nodded. "So, feeling better?" he asked and sat on the edge of the bed, close to Nathan.

"Um, yeah…" he hid behind another drink of his coffee. Jack's proximity was making his pulse speed up a little and…

"You know, Zoe told me the strangest thing last night after you fell asleep." Jack's eyes grew a little distant and apprehensive. "You see, there's someone here in Eureka that I've developed feelings for, but I haven't acted on those feelings… for a lot of different reasons. Zoe noticed and told me that she just wants me to be happy… that she thinks I should act on those feelings."

Nathan swallowed a little more coffee and then set the cup on a nearby table. His heart thudded painfully in his chest; clearly Jack was about to ask if it was okay to date Allison. They'd become friends and Jack didn't want to step on Nathan's feelings. That was all this was…

"Nathan… for a long time, I thought it was Allison that I cared about, but it's not. I care about you." Jack's hand reached out and cupped the side of Nathan's face just before the Sheriff leaned in to kiss his scientist.

For a moment, Nathan froze in surprise. Jack wanted him, not Allison. Then he felt the pressure on his lips start to ease and Nathan finally remembered to kiss back. He slid his hands around Jack's waist and pulled Jack closer. Jack's free hand latched onto Nathan's right arm and his fingers tangled up in the sleeve.

The need for oxygen eventually broke their kiss, but not for long. Nathan initiated the next kiss, teasing Jack's lips with his tongue to ask for entrance. Jack moaned and Nathan slid his hands under Jack's shirt, hoping to elicit another sound from his Sheriff.

When they broke apart this time, they were panting for breath and Nathan found himself entranced by Jack's eyes. Distantly, he grew aware of a phone ringing.

Reluctantly, Jack untangled himself from Nathan's arms and produced his cell phone from his shirt pocket. "Carter." Jack's voice was a little rougher than usual and Nathan grinned to himself at the thought that he was responsible for that. "What do you mean it's getting bigger? I thought the sun was supposed to be burning out soon!" Jack sighed and shook his head even though the person on the other end of the phone couldn't see. "No, Fargo, I'm not mad at you. And no, I'm not going to vote for Vince just because you really want me to." Nathan laughed. "Yeah, Stark is here. We'll both be at GD as soon as possible."

Jack hung up the phone. "Obviously, that was Fargo. Apparently, the second sun just doesn't want to go away. Henry, Kylie, and Zane have called a meeting at GD that we need to be at. Do you want to stop by your house for a change of clothes first?"

"Definitely." Nathan kissed Jack lightly on the lips and then smirked at Jack's slightly dazed expression. "I care about you too, Jack." Getting up off the bed, he grabbed Jack's hand and pulled him up, too. "So… after we save the town, again, what would you say to dinner, just you and me, at Café Diem?"

Jack beamed a ridiculously happy smile that Nathan knew was on reflected on his own face. "Sounds like a date, Nathan."

--

"Well, what now?" Zane asked, summing up everyone's thoughts succinctly after Eva stormed out of the meeting.

"We keep multitasking." Nathan shrugged. "Eva may want this town to go up in flames, but for the rest of us this is home. So we," he gestured from himself to Zane, Henry, and Allison, "make a delivery system for the iron while they," he gestured to Jack and Jo, "get everyone else out of town… including the really irritating politicians who are going to want to stay to prove themselves to the town or something equally moronic."

"Is that aimed at Fargo or Herrera?" Allison asked.

"Both. Mostly Fargo, though." Nathan caught Jack's eye and they grinned.

"I bet he'll try and get me to endorse Vincent again," Jack joked.

"It's Fargo; of course he'll try to hit you up for an endorsement."

"I want to help stop the sun," Kylie interjected. "I know I'm just a kid, but this is my fault and… I need to fix this."

"She's been very helpful so far," Henry agreed.

Nathan nodded. "It's still your project, Kylie. But… you are still a kid, so call your parents and if they say you can stay until the rest of the scientists evacuate, then you can stay. Henry's right, you've been helpful and you haven't let fear hold you back. Sometimes people make mistakes that are big, like this, and then freeze afterwards and become useless."

"It's hard to freeze in all this heat," Kylie joked. "Um, Dr. Deacon, can I borrow your cell phone to call my parents?"

"Yeah, let's take it outside. I'm going to scrounge up some water bottles and I will need some help carrying them back, anyway." Henry and Kylie left, as did the majority of the other scientists, the Sheriff, and the Deputy.

Nathan watched as Jack and Jo left the lab. It was time to get to work. He turned to face Zane and… Allison's accusing glare. "What?"

"You were… flirting with Jack. I never noticed before, but you do that a lot, don't you? Ever since I said I wouldn't marry you again, you've been hitting on Jack. I chose him over you and now you're trying to make sure I don't get to be happy because my refusal hurt you!" Allison guessed, taking a step forward with every allegation.

Shock kept Nathan quiet. Normally he'd have fought back, but… had he done just what she claimed? His eyes shut for a moment and he remembered the way he'd felt on fire not so long ago. It wasn't the heat from the second sun that had burnt through him but the feeling of Jack's hands on his face and his arm and their kiss…

… the icy fear when Jack had been hooked up to the video-therapy device or lying dead from the misdirected weapon's blast and the pure relief that had literally left him shaken each time Jack opened his eyes…

Nathan's eyes opened. "I'm sorry; Allison, you really have no idea what you're talking about." All that time he'd wasted, denying what he felt for Jack because he'd thought Jack would never feel the same. Allison had been his safety net, but when she'd denied him Nathan had slowly woken to the realization that he couldn't hide anymore.

"Besides, Stark and Carter have been flirting with each since before I came to Eureka," Zane observed brightly. "Now, Dr. Blake, if you're going to be bitchy to him, you're really going to have to leave. Unless you feel that you can still play nice with others…?"

Allison stomped out.

"I'm so very, very glad she said 'no'," Nathan muttered.

"So am I. One of the first things I did when I got out of those shocker-cuffs was place a bet on you and Carter with Vincent, the great, almighty bookie. Let's just say that if I win, the payout has climbed significantly." Zane grinned and grabbed a nearby rocket launcher: the XRT. "Do you think this would work?"

--

Sitting alone outside the lab room, Nathan took a deep breath and a drink of water from the bottles Henry and Kylie had brought back. They'd been working on the delivery system for a few hours now – so far the XRT was working out theoretically – and they were getting close to finishing the retrofit.

Allison hadn't reappeared yet and Nathan had finally told Henry that she'd gone to oversee the evacuation. He'd convinced Zane not to mention Allison's explosion. She was wrong and she knew it; Allie wasn't the sort of person who let pride stand in her way, she'd be back to apologize just as soon as she'd calmed down and thought things through. Nathan just hoped that she didn't realize that he hadn't really been in love with her when he'd asked her to marry him the second time around because then she'd probably get mad all over again.

It was just… Allison was his best friend. She understood him in a way no one else ever seemed to and he didn't want to lose her friendship.

"Nathan?"

Startled, Nathan looked up to see Allison, with a sheepish expression on her face, walking up to him. "Allison?"

"You love him, don't you?" She didn't wait for him to answer. "I thought about what Zane said and he's right. You and Jack… you've been flirting with each other for a long time, since practically your first day back on the job at GD. Then Callister died and the two of you were like best friends who just couldn't admit to being friends. But I only saw it as bickering at the time because, when you two noticed me, it was peripherally about me."

Allison sighed softly. "I'm sorry, Nathan. What I said before was out of line."

"Your temper always gets out of control in the heat," Nathan responded, forgiving her by dismissing the entire incident. "And… you're right. I love Jack." The words sounded right – felt right – and suddenly he wanted nothing more than to track Jack down and tell him. But they'd only kissed for the first time that morning and… what if Jack cared for him and had yet to fall in love?

"Does he…?"

"He… well, we're going on a date once the town has been saved." Nathan wasn't sure if that was the right answer, but Allison smiled.

Her expression was simultaneously happy and sad. "Good. Be happy together, okay?"

Nodding, Nathan took another drink from his water bottle and then gestured to the door to the lab. "So, are you going to help refit the XRT now?"

"Of course."

--

"All right, everybody's cleared out," Jack announced as he walked into the lab. "Any luck?"

"We're locked and loaded, Sheriff," Kylie announced. She'd been a major help refitting the XRT and calculating the correct amount of iron necessary to cause the sun to finally burn out.

"The XRT is online and ready," Henry agreed as he hurried past Allison.

Allison appeared unhappy and her news wasn't exactly the greatest. "It's going to take two people to get the module in position to launch." Jack sensed that something else was bothering her… and she wouldn't quite meet his eyes. He figured he'd ask Nathan what was wrong with Allison later.

Jack opened his mouth to object, but Nathan cut him off. "Don't even think about it, Jack. You're not doing this alone. I'm going with you."

"But… I want to play with the rocket launcher," Zane pouted.

"Because you term it 'playing' is exactly why you can't go," Kylie said before anyone else could object to Zane's statement. "Honestly, you're more childish than I am."

"I agree," Henry and Allison chorused.

"Okay then… you four get to the evacuation site and Kylie…" Jack reached out and shook the girl's hand, "good work."

"Thanks!" She beamed at him and hopped off the counter.

"Be careful," Henry cautioned and then followed Kylie out of the room.

Zane pouted as he left and Allison reluctantly followed after him. Jack caught her arm before she could pass him by, though. "Could you keep an eye on Lex and Zoe?"

Allison nodded and smiled, but there was something sad in her eyes. "Of course, Jack. Both of you... be safe."

As soon as it was just the two of them, Jack asked, "Nathan, what's wrong with Allison?"

"She noticed us flirting with each other during the meeting," Nathan said quietly. "I guess she's rather had her heart set on you, but doesn't want either of us getting hurt…"

Jack rubbed the back of his neck and looked at the floor. He hadn't wanted Allison to have her heart broken, but there was really no avoiding it. "She was going to find out about us eventually," he finally said. "Is she okay with us?"

"Sort of. She will be soon enough."

"Good." Jack wandered over to stand next to Nathan in front of the XRT and, after a moment of indecision, kissed the scientist briefly before gesturing to the rocket launcher. "So, how does this work?"

"Uh…" Nathan licked his lips while Jack stared at him, briefly entranced by the way Nathan's green eyes grew darker for a few moments. "The XRT is basically a rocket launcher…"

A/N Sometimes its fun to have Allison know before Jack and Nathan and sometimes its fun to have her oblivious. Since Emcey had already did the 'Allison knows because she's genius' thing, I decided to take the other track. Sometimes Allison seems a little to... wishy-washy in the show, but she's usually not too bad. Oddly enough, Abby reminded me of Allison when she showed up. She was divorcing Jack, but was clearly still in love with him, and was going to take Zoe away even though it was obvious Jack didn't really want Zoe to leave... wishy-washy.

In Avatar... Zuko gets the silliest expressions on his face when odd things happen... or when Iroh says something wise, yet incomprehensible. I really need to find screenshots of those expressions.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer – I don't own Eureka or else Emcey and I would have latched onto Ed Quinn's ankles and begged him to stay.

A/N - The last chapter has arrived. I know its happy because, 'yay, more Jack/Nathan' and sad because the updates are ending... but just remember that in about a week or so Emcey Squared will be posting "From Fear to Eternity: Redux". Also, we're working on a series rewrite starting with the pilot episode and having Nathan there early. From there, we're going to show how everything changes, starting with Jack and Nathan being friends from the start and then developing a relationship. :)

Additionally, I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, added my story to their update alerts, or added me to their author alerts. It is really, really nice to know that so many people enjoyed the story.

_**Chapter Six**_

Nathan panted softly and leaned his forehead against Jack's. "We should get going."

"Right. We have a town to save." Neither of them moved away. Jack's arms were laced comfortably around Nathan's shoulders while Nathan ran his hands slowly up and down Jack's spine. "The sun isn't going to put itself out…"

Tilting his face, Nathan captured Jack's mouth with his own and slipped his tongue in. For a few moments he enjoyed experiencing the taste of Jack, something he couldn't quite place but was at once familiar and addictive, and the warmth that ran through his body, so very different from the oppressive heat from the second sun. This time, when their kiss ended, Nathan forced himself to untangle from Jack. He didn't want to, but there would be more time for them later.

They started to gather up the XRT when someone wolf whistled… loudly.

Before even turning around, Jack said, "hi, Jo." He moved to face Jo. "Are you taking the last of the scientists to the evacuation zone?"

"Yeah," Jo confirmed, smirking at the duo. "So… now that you've checked each other's tonsils with your tongues, are you going to save the town now?"

"Why else would we be carting this," Nathan lifted up the XRT, "around?"

"Thorne's waiting outside to try and talk you two out of using that. Have fun…" Grinning impishly, Jo left the room.

"She's really weird."

"You have no idea…"

They started carrying the equipment out into the hall, just in time to see Jo disappear behind the far corner laughing.

"She's going to go gossip now," Jack muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Gossip about what?" Thorne asked. Just as Jo had warned them, Eva had been waiting outside the door for them.

"It's a small town," Nathan responded. "You'll find out soon enough. We sort of have a schedule to keep, so… if you don't have anything left to say we should get a move on."

"I thought we agreed to evacuate the town," Eva complained, pushing aside the topic of gossip as she glared at the duo.

"We have evacuated the town." Jack tilted his head to the side and regarded her curiously. "What are you still doing here?"

"None of your business. Stop playing games, Sheriff, Stark."

"We're not," Nathan snapped. "The XRT will work, Thorne."

"If you two don't die first."

"It's my job to protect the town, Eva," Jack objected.

"It isn't Stark's."

"Someone who built the XRT needs to be there. The only other volunteer was Zane." Nathan smirked as Thorne winced. "That's what I thought."

"If there is one thing that I've learned in my life it's that no one should be left behind. That includes you two." There was sincerity in her voice.

"I'm sorry, Miss Thorne. I really am." Gesturing to the end of the hall that Jo had left in. "The evacuation needs to be enforced and you need to go to one of the camps. This isn't a request."

When Eva nodded, Jack and Nathan started in the direction of the exit.

--

"It looks pretty bad. Are you sure the rocket can handle it?" Jack asked as he drove towards the designated launch site.

"It's an untested delivery system, Jack," Nathan smiled a little despite the situation. He was getting used to calling Jack by his first name fast. "The mini-sun is out of control. Theoretically, it should work."

"We just need to make theory reality." Jack parked the truck. He and Nathan got out and immediately began setting up the XRT.

"Ready?" Nathan asked as he started fiddling with the computer interface. They backed up as he started counting down for launch. But, just as Nathan reached "seven", the sun released a solar flare that sent out an EMP. The rocket sparked, smoked, and… died. "Sometimes I hate Murphy's law."

"Oh, I always hate that one," Jack stared at the rocket in shock. "Murphy must have had a grudge against this town, because that law always applies. I'll call Allison."

While Jack talked to Allie over the phone, Nathan went over to crouch beside the rocket. Desperately, he tried to find some way to fix it, to salvage the situation somehow. But the wiring was melting and he was starting to feel lightheaded and dizzy like he had the previous night when he'd been reminded of how close he'd come to spontaneously bursting into flames. "God dammit," he growled, shoving the casing shut.

"Nathan, let's get the rocket back into my truck." Jack pulled out a vial of some sort of green liquid. "We've got an idea." He tossed the vial over to Stark. "Do you recognize that?"

"It's Zane's heat protection formula. He's been working on this for weeks and stands up surprisingly well to flame throwers." Nathan stood up slowly. "With this we could easily withstand the sun's worst heat for a few minutes."

"We're going to Herrera's lab to use some of his rocket boosters; Kylie and Henry say they're compatible with the XRT. It's almost directly beneath the sun, though." Jack walked over and started picking up the equipment.

"With this, we'll have plenty of time to find the boosters and launch the XRT." Nathan shoved the vial into his pocket so he could pick up the rocket. "Time for plan B."

--

Nathan's arm throbbed with pain from where he'd used it to shove the metal doors to Herrera's lab open. It was dark, at last, as the final rays of the real sun disappeared over the horizon and the second sun began burning itself up. The heat had noticeably dropped and he was lying on the scorched ground beside Jack, who was idly tracing designs on the back of Nathan's hand… probably without realizing what he was doing. All in all, despite the burns Nathan felt oddly… at ease.

The last of the second sun went out in a huge puff of smoke. "That was actually a pretty sunset."

"Yeah, it was… wasn't it?" Nathan lightly linked his fingers with Jack's. "So, about our date. Let's have it… tomorrow?"

"After the winner of the election is announced?" Jack paused and then added, "I'd like that." He scooted a little closer to Nathan. "We should head back into town…"

"Yeah, I need to get my arm looked at." He raised the arm in question so that Jack could see the burns. There was just enough light from the lab to see by and the shadows played across Jack's face enticingly.

Jack sat up and reached over to hold onto an unburned part of Nathan's arm. "You should have said something."

Propping himself up on his undamaged arm, Nathan said, "there wasn't time. Besides, you burned yourself, too."

"I just…" Jack's voice held a note in it that Nathan couldn't quite identify. "I can't stand to see you hurt. I… as I said before, I've known for a while what my feelings for you are, Nathan, and… I love you. I've been in love with you for a while now and..."

"Good," Nathan cut off Jack before he could start to babble and sat all the way up so that there wasn't much space between their faces, "because I love you, Jack." He bridged the distance between them to kiss Jack. Jack pulled away after a few moments with a pained hiss, cradling his burnt arm close. "I don't like it when you're hurt either," Nathan said softly. Reluctantly, he stood and pulled Jack up with him. "Let's get back to town… where there are first aid kits and burn relief."

"My bunker isn't far from here," Jack observed slyly. "SARAH's got a fully stocked first aid kit… and air conditioning."

"And water…" Nathan agreed, not needing further incentive. "You're just trying to get me back in your home."

"You caught me," Jack laughed. "My nefarious plot has been uncovered."

"I told you," Nathan linked his hand with Jack's again, "people just gravitate to my charming personality."

"I'm not so sure about the charming bit, but…" Jack started walking, tugging Nathan along, "_I'm_ certainly drawn to you."

--

Jack hadn't been able to keep the grin off his face all day, even on the few occasions when he'd forgotten about the burn on his arm and painfully whacked it against something. He kept drifting off into his thoughts and wind up remembering the way Nathan's voice had sounded when he'd said "I love you, Jack" or the way they'd fallen asleep together the night before, curled up on the couch.

Zoe and Lexi had left a message – which said 'We approve.' and had their signatures on it – for them in the morning and practically half the town conspired with Allison and Jo, who both conspired with Fargo, to make SARAH turn off Jack's wake-up alarm for the day. Thus, waking up with Nathan was on Jack's mind too, as was just about everything else about the man…

After Jack finally got into work, Jo started teasing about how his head was in the clouds. But she was happy for him… and for Zane, who'd apparently won some sort of bet that had been riding on who would end up with whom.

It was evening now, almost time for his first date with Nathan, and Jack couldn't keep his mind on the upcoming events. His concentration only grew worse as the reason for his distraction sidled up next to him, kissed him lightly on the lips, and then said, "your daughter and your deputy are scary, scary people."

"What?"

"Zoe told me that if I break your heart that she'll kill me with a shovel and Jo said she'd help hide my body. They're scary, scary people. Your sister was there, as well. She was just standing there, smirking. So… she's kind of scary, too." Nathan grinned and then pulled Jack into a booth near the podium that had been set up in Café Diem.

They were both sitting on the same side of the booth and it was hard to stay irritated at the ladies in his family – Jo had definitely become the unofficial sister to at least him, if not to Lexi as well – when he was pressed against Nathan's side while the dark haired scientist was idly stroking his thumb against Jack's wrist. "Zoe's getting payback for me threatening Lucas all the time," Jack managed to respond coherently.

"He's not so bad is he?" Nathan asked, genuinely curious.

"I suppose not," Jack shrugged. "I like him better than Dylan, who invented that super-speed drug or the other guy… who tried to invite Zoe to a cabin for a weekend. I still don't want him to be the Mayor, though."

"It would certainly be awkward."

"You two look horribly sunburned," Henry observed, sliding into the empty side of the booth and smirking at the two. "Certainly took you two long enough to get together, by the way. I lost my bet over a month ago because you were both going so slowly."

"Henry, shut up," Nathan grumbled and pouted.

"How are your arms?" Henry happily ignored Nathan's suggestion.

"Itchy," Jack complained, holding up his bandaged appendage. "That means its healing, right."

"It does," Nathan assured him.

"I also stopped by to say that I'm happy for you. You are two of my best friends and hopefully now I can stop being Switzerland every time GD finds itself at odds with the Sheriff's office." Henry looked hopeful.

"Oh, no, we'll still fight over GD's insane projects," Jack said, putting a frown on Henry's face.

Nathan nodded in agreement. "It's too much fun. We just have to make sure to remember it's our jobs and not a personal attack."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure you'll figure something out." Henry started to get up and then added, "what the two of you did last night was brave… mythic even."

"Maybe selfish," Jack amended. "I've gotten pretty attached to this town."

"Well the town is pretty fortunate to have you two protecting it." Henry laughed as Jack demurred humbly and Nathan made a jokingly egocentric comment. "What about Thorne?"

"We're working on it," the couple chorused.

"May I have your attention, please?" Lexi called from behind the podium. "Everyone?! Hello!! Quiet!!" She waited for silence to fall before continuing. "Thank you. Okay… all the ballots are in. It was a very close race, but after a late night surge at the polling booths, our new mayor elect is…" she paused a few moments for dramatic effect, "Mr. Henry Deacon!!"

There was a lot of cheering, but Henry exclaimed 'no!' in surprise. "No, no, no… wait, I wasn't even on the ballot," Henry objected, getting out of the booth and hurrying the few steps to the podium.

"I kind of started the write in campaign," Lexi said and then scurried behind Henry to force him to take the podium. "And two certain some ones gave you their official endorsements." She gestured to Jack and Nathan.

"Better you than Herrera," Nathan responded. "The write in campaign was the only reason I voted."

"Please accept, Henry," Jack added. "Lucas is the runner up."

"Really, this is a surprise." Henry took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say. "I'm honored. I'm not one for making campaign promises, but… um… I will say this; what makes Eureka special is not the ideal behind it. You, this community… this family is what makes this town unique and I am so very proud to be a part of it. And it's this family that I promise to protect, no matter what. Um… thank you?" The entire room stood up to clap for him.

"See, Jack," Lexi said, "sometimes the system does work."

"Sometimes it does, Lex," he agreed. Glancing around the room and at everyone who was rushing to shake Henry's hand, Jack turned to Nathan and said, "it's going to be a while before we get dinner, isn't it?"

"Vincent certainly isn't anywhere near the kitchens," Nathan agreed. He paused and then said, "I'm a good cook… and we're not far from my house..."

"I certainly won't say no," Jack replied. "Uh, Lex, will you…"

"I'll tell Zoe. Now you two go on, have fun, and don't come back home until the wee hours of the morning… if at all. Okay Jack?"

"Yes, Lexi," Jack's expression grew faintly impish and suddenly Nathan wondered just what he'd gotten into. Whatever it was, he was definitely looking forward to it.

A/N – The whole Henry being Mayor thing was predictable after the awesome speech he made. I really liked that, though. Despite what he's done in the past, I think Henry will make a great Mayor.

In Avatar, Azula can shoot lightning at people and Zuko can't. Zuko is still cool, though, 'cause he can redirect lightning attacks.


End file.
